On Russia

By Daniel Jellins, Treasurer

Take a breath.

Think about the last year and Russia.

Now, think about where we are now and Russia.

How are you feeling?

This week, there is a new drip to what is the drip drip drip and even more drip of the story involving the President’s new administration and Russian meddling into our election. It has been revealed that the son of the President met with a Russian government linked individual in regards to information that would damage Hillary Clinton. While he at first denied any actionable information, his story changed within 24 hours of the meeting being reported.

Now, there are emails (oh the irony) about Trump Jr.’s willingness to obtain information from a foreign government. This is illegal.

Stop.

Take a breath.

Think about that. The son of the President is seemingly admitting (by releasing his own email chain, though he did it because news organizations were about to) that he did something illegal. Further, it demonstrates that he knew that the Russian government was yearning to help the Trump campaign; yet, they have been denying and obfuscating that exact fact for the last year.

This investigation into Russia is not a hoax.

It is real.

No matter where this story ends up, no matter whether it is ever proved that President Trump had prior knowledge of any desire by the Russian government to help him to victory, we are uncertain waters. We are stranded in the middle of this ocean of an investigation, past the point of return yet the shore on the other side is nowhere in sight. In the water, lurking, are stories that have not surfaced and enemies who seek to overturn our country’s metaphorical ship.

How are we going to steer the country through this? Who is going to stand up and lead? When we get to the shore, what will be the condition of our country’s ship?

These are the important questions to ask. We cannot go back and change anything that has happened in the last year. We can only move forward. But the only way we move forward is recognizing the past, leading in the present, and acting better in the future.